Cold Comfort
by Roaddog 469
Summary: Bit of MollySirius fluff. Strange coupling, I admit, but I was the victim of a strange plot bunny. First and only Potter Fic, please be nice. Gather your popcorn and enjoy!


Insistent little plot bunny bit me in the frontal lobe whilst rereading Order of the Phoenix in prep for release of Deathly Hallows. Seems like a little too much UST going on between Molly and Sirius, way too much tension for there not to be something going on nudge, nudge, wink, wink 'Say n'more'

Molly Weasley stood in the kitchen of number 12 Grimmauld Place, clearing up after an early breakfast provided and cooked by Sirius Black. She tucked a lock of red hair behind her left ear as she placed the last of the dishes in the sink.

For the first time since the decision had been made to have the Order's headquarters in the old Black family home, Molly was thrilled that that wretched house-elf was…well, wretched. Doing the washing up on her own and with hardly any charms kept her hands busy and her mind occupied. Anything to keep herself from picturing Arthur. Her hands paused mid-motion as her mind's eye opened and saw her husband pale, and sickly looking, lying in a bed in St. Mungo's. She felt the sting of fresh tears touch her eyes, but she blinked them furiously away.

She breathed in sharply through her nose as she turned her eyes upwards to the ceiling. To her children. It had been a full ten minutes since she last heard Fred and George apparate from Harry and Ron's room back to their own room. After the sleepless night, they were surely asleep by now. _No need to be strong for your children if they're asleep, Molly_, an insipid voice in the back of her mind called out. _If you were going to break down, now would be the time to do it. Get it out of your system before it builds up and breaks loose at an inopportune moment._

_But this is an inopportune moment, _she countered, _What__ if one of the comes downstairs and sees me in a shambles? __Especially after that incident with the __boggart_…her mind's voice trailed off again as the memory rushed back to her. Arthur. Arthur's body on the floor of the study. His glasses askew and blood on his face. Pale, much like he had been at St. Mungo's. Pale as death, she realized with a shuddering sigh. She questioned the trails of warm wetness running down her cheeks until she realized that that last memory, despite all her arguments to the contrary, had finally brought tears. Defeated by her own emotions, she stood beside the sink, hung her head and gave in wholly to the sobs that now racked her body.

Sirius was on his way to the kitchen, to the boiler cupboard to search for Kreacher Mainly because he suspected that the creepy little elf had kincked his favorite pillow, but also because all of the raw emotion running rampant through the house made him want to exert some his own. With Harry asleep, some quality Godfather/Godson bonding was out, so rage at Kreacher would just have to suffice. He hadn't noticed how quiet had suddenly embraced the old house, until he realized that the silence was broken by a muffled sound of sadness coming in from the kitchen.

Standing silently in the doorway, Sirius took in the sight before him. He watched as Molly Weasley, who tried to protect the whole world, stood, unprotected. Her back was to him as she sobbed, great heaving sobs, that left her shoulders shaking. As Sirius looked closer he noticed that she held a tea cozy over her face trying to block the sounds of her emotions from the rest of the household.

His heart hurt to see her like that, sobbing uncontrollably into a rag, to keep the rest of them from overhearing her misery. His instinct told him to turn and walk away quietly. So as not to disturb her and not to embarrass her by letting her know he had seen her at her most vulnerable, but he found himself moving forward, bare feet silent on the wooden floor. He stood maybe a step or two behind her. He raised one tattooed hand to touch her, yet paused with it just behind her shoulder. She didn't know he was here yet. He could still back away and she would never be the wiser. Possibly a good idea. She needed comfort from those she loved just now and neither of them had ever kept their feeling of little more than tolerance of each other a secret. Sirius though on this a heartbeat or two, before Molly stopped sobbing and straightened her shoulders enough to barely brush his hand against the cloth of her blouse. She turned quickly to see who was there.

As she turned, a look of horror crossed her features, but as her puffy eyes settled on Sirius the horror changed to cool indifference. Te waterworks that had been flowing freely only moments before, now dried up, if not for her swollen face it would have been hard to tell at all. "How long have you been standing there, Sirius?" she asked her tone thick with unshown emotion.

"Long enough to see that you may need someone to talk to," he said in a cool voice, reaching around her to grab a tea towel and handed it to her.

She looked at it as though she had never seen a tea towel before. Slowly she raised her hand and took it. She buried her face in it and rubbed. She held it there for a few seconds before she lowered it from her face. What modest makeup she had been wearing was gone now and her face was fresh and clean beneath it. She balled up the towel and tossed it onto the table. "Thank you, but no," she replied calmly, her voice regaining that cheery quality bit by bit. There was a chance that she was genuinely alright, but Sirius doubted it.

"Alright," he replied, smoothly, "I'll just have a cup of tea before I head to bed, and should anything occur to you while I'm sitting here, well…" he trailed off as he made his way to the cupboard for the kettle. Molly sighed heavily as she returned to her dishes and Sirius went about with his tea. "Care for one?" he asked motioning at her with a cup.

"You really are going to sit here and drink a cup of tea, waiting for me to cry?" she asked turning to him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yes," he replied matter of factly, "I really am."

"Why?" she asked her voice adopting a heated edge.

Sirius grinned at this, at least if she was mad at him, she wasn't crying. Then he saw her face react and immediately hid his grin lest it be misinterpreted. He faced her, his tone serious, "I don't know. I only know that…It hurts me to see you like this. Probably not as much as it hurts you to feel like this, but it isn't right. Not with everything else going on, you shouldn't be hurting."

Molly had dropped her arms at some point when he was talking and now she stared at him her mouth agape.

"What?" he asked, reading her expression.

"That is the most selfless thing I think I've ever heard you say, Sirius."

He grinned as he put the kettle down, "Not really," he began, "I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep with you down here like this so it's really to make myself feel better."

Molly let out a short chuckle, before she covered her moth, still smiling. "That sounds more like you." She faced him full. "Alright," she said waving her want to charm the dishes in the sink to wash themselves. She turned her back to him and waved her wand at two chairs that pulled themselves out from under the table, "you asked for it," she finished settling into one and motioning for Sirius to do the same.

Sirius sat down across from her, studying her with his dark eyes as she fidgeted with the sleeve of her blouse. "Is it only Arthur? Or is there more to it?" he asked after a long silence.

"Only Arthur would be enough, but with…" she trailed off. He looked at her expectantly. She sighed heavily before she continued again, "Arthur is in the hospital and I know that Bill will be in from Romania to see him and Charlie will drift in from wherever Gringott's has him now, but …"her voice was thick again when she continued, "Percy is only in London," she said his name as if it were made of broken glass and she could feel it on her tongue as she said it. "And I know that it is possible that even his father's death wouldn't bring him back to us." She broke down again. She slumped over the table; her forehead on her forearms, now-silent sobs shaking her shoulders.

Sirius frowned for a second. _Well, what now, genius? You had to get involved. Now what hare we supposed to do?_"I'd go visit him, Molly," he said suddenly, and immediately wondered why. Apparently Molly wondered too, judging from the puzzled look on her face when she raised it to look at him. "I'd go visit, Arthur, you know," he added quickly, "if I could leave the house, " he said pulling a hanky from his pocket.

She laughed half-heartedly as she accepted his hanky and dried her eyes. "I'm sure you would, Sirius, but I'm afraid that it's no substitute for his son."

"I understand," he said rising and walking around the table to her side. He crouched in front of her as he continued, "but if your son is too thick to realize how much you and Arthur are risking to keep the world safe for him and every other person in it, then he's a complete prat and not worth you torturing yourself over."

Molly didn't respond to that, merely looked down furiously at her hands as a single tear made it's way down her cheek. Without thinking, Sirius' raised a hand and wiped away her tear with his thumb. A tiny jolt ran up Sirius' arm and he jerked away as if he'd been burnt. A flush crept across the back of Molly's neck and blossomed on the pale skin of her cheeks. She swallowed hard as her pale eyes met his dark ones. What the bloody hell was that? He asked himself as he stared at Molly in a way he had never stared at her before. With a startling revelation he realized the small jolt that still tingled beneath his skin had caused him to see Molly as Molly, not as Arthur's wife, not the twin's mother, not the wretch that tried to tell him he wasn't doing best for Harry, but as Molly…a woman.

Strange how a simple reclassification could change perception so. He suddenly noticed how smooth her skin looked, the strange color of her eyes, the bright hair and femininely full curves of her body. Before he really grasped what he was doing he leaned forward onto his knees, bringing himself close enough to smell her. He laid both hands softly, almost as if asking permission, on her hands clenched in her lap. He half expected her to slap them away, but her hand relaxed beneath his, curling her fingers around his. He raised one hand to her face and cupped her cheek in his palm. A tiny electric current ran up and down the length of his body and Molly's face reddened even more.

He slid his hand back, along her face, running his fingers through her vibrantly red hair, stopping at the nape of her neck. He could feel her blush there too. Gently he started to pull her face closer to his. He expected resistance, but was met by none. He flashed her what he hoped was a charming and reassuring smile and she responded with a nervous one, though it probably mirrored his own.

Her knees in his stomach as he kneeled in front of her kept him from getting much closer, but his face neared hers all the same. Close enough to feel her breath on his mouth. Their lips brushed, tentatively, almost chastely. She drew back her breath coming faster now, searching his face with frantic eyes, he half expected her to bolt from the room. But she remained. She raised her hand to cover his at the back of her head and traced it with her own over his wrist, up his forearm, to the solid bicep and up to his shoulder to the back of his neck drawing his face back to hers.

Their lips met again, softly, passionately. Molly dropped forward onto her knees, sliding off the chair, never breaking contact with Sirius' mouth. She wrapped both arms around his strong back an squeezed. A sound remarkably like a growl emitted from his throat and vibrated against her lips. His tongue probed gently at her mouth, respectfully requesting access. A small contented sigh escaped her mouth as her lips parted slightly. His hands cupped her face as their tongues intertwined with each other.

Their breathing became ragged as Sirius' body reacted as any man's will. His firmness pressed insistently against Molly's thighs and she gasped. Behind Sirius a plate crashed in the sink. Both pulled back at the sound of breaking glass. Sirius dropped his eyes trying to regain normal breathing. When he managed to look up, Molly had half-covered her mouth with her hand and was staring intently at the sink behind Sirius' head. She met his eyes briefly before rising to her feet.

"Reparo," she said, mending the broken plate with a flick of her wand. She stood for a moment, still, but for the slightest of tremors causing her wand hand to shake slightly. "Things are finished in here, I think," she said her normal tone back in her voice. Sirius managed to raise his eyes to meet hers. She was back to Arthur's wife, the twin's mother, the wretch who told him he wasn't doing best for Harry.

"I think so," he managed to say as he still knelt on the floor in front of her.

"Right," she said turning away and beginning to leave. She paused at the door and turned back to him. "Thank you, Sirius, for…listening," she said this last word as she dropped her eyes, a slight flush returning to her face.

Sirius swallowed, then replied, "You're welcome, Molly. If you should ever need anyone to…listen, again."

"I won't," she replied sharply, cutting him off. Her voice softened, "but thank you, just the same."

He nodded up at her from his place on the floor as she turned and left. He listened as her footsteps moved through the house then settled in her room above the kitchen. Silence once again enveloped the house as Sirius rose on bare feet and made his way to the boiler cupboard. After retrieving his pillow and dusting it off, he paddled back to the steps.

Molly heard his steps coming closer as he neared her door, then they stopped. She held her breath.

Sirius Black looked at the hard wood door standing between himself and Molly Weasley. He raised a tattooed fist to know, then paused. He sighed and dropped his hand, continuing past the door into his own room. Once he was settled into his bed, both wizard and witch breathed a deep sigh. If asked whether a sigh of relief or contentment, however, neither would be able to say

Fin

Well, there it is. Not my best work, but not my worst (not by a longshot). Hope you enjoyed, if so leave a review. If not your bag, could let me know that as well.


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